USS Ezekiel
USS Ezekiel NCC 1719 Built: 2251 The USS Ezekiel was the setting on Jay's first classic Star Trek Role Playing Game campaign. She is part of the ST-OM continuity. She was Named by Dennis who was referring to the book of the Bible where a UFO supposedly appears 'Appearances' The USS Ezekiel was the Setting for Jay's 1983 Star Trek Role Playing scenario. The principal player was Dennnis Washburn, who named the ship for the book of the bible in which a UFO supposedly appears. Later, I reworked the Ezekiel of the 2288-2305 period as a setting, but that game didn't last for long. Notable Previous Crew *Captain Horatio St. John-Smythe *Captain Spiak of Vulcan *Captain Lee Barr *Captain Amber St. John-Smythe *Noted Starfleet Hero Bob Justman served a tour as Chief Helmsman. *The first Sivoan Starship Captain served aboard the Ezekiel as a navigator. As Built *'Brief description of ship:' Standard Constitution class. Campaign setting, Vehicle to get the Characters into trouble. *'Fleet role:' Heavy cruiser, patrol and exploration. *'Length:' 289m *'Distinguishing Marks (Odd paint job, repair scars etc.)' Between 2267 and 2283 The Ezekiel was painted a pale blue. This paint job was preserved over at least one major refit. *'Equipment Quirks and Problems:' A stock model Constitution class starship. *'Equipment Advantages:' The Ezekiel was equipped as a stock model Constitution class cruiser, an advanced and powerful starship of her day. *'Shuttles, number, any odd ones?' 4 type F shuttles, 2 Aqua shuttles, 1 Civilian Shuttle<, 1 Recreation 20th century Ground car. Briefly the Ezekiel carried a shuttlecraft from an alternate universe Federation, but this was confiscated by Section 32. *'Primary Power:' The Ezekiel was powered by the most powerful and leveraged Matter/Antimatter reactors of the day. *'Secondary Power:' Standard generic Impulse power system *'Primary Weapons:' Photon Torpedoes, of the standard type of the day. *'Secondary Weapons:' Type VII phaser banks, *'Crew:' 420 Enterprise D Scale *Science capacity - 200 -- Less lab or crew for science, sensors less advanced. *Crew Comfort - 200 -- Half the crew, an eighth the volume. *Duration - 1000 -- smaller in every way but equipped for that size. *Medical facilities - 400 -- Neither the space or the staff. *Tactical maneuvering - 1400 -- Lighter and quicker. *Strategic Speed - 500 Cruise WF 6, Flank WF 8 old scale *Defense - 400 -- Class 6 shields Good for the day. *Offense - 250 -- class 6 weapons, top of the game for her time. *Versatility - 600 She did the cruiser mission but did not have the space or crew. *Internal Security – 600 People were always getting in. History The USS Ezekiel was a constitution class starship. She was launched in 2251 (fourteen years prior to ST:TOS season 1). She was part of the huge expansion and growth of the United Federation of Planets in the twenty third century. The Constitution class was the biggest and most advanced Federation starship of it's day, and carried most of the burden of the exploration and defense of the UFP. The USS Ezekiel saw her share of this action. Not too much is known of the early history of this starship. In 2259 two of her future captains, Lee Barr and Spiak of Vulcan, took their cadet cruises aboard her. In 2260, another of her future captains, Horatio St.John-Smythe served his first tour as a starship First Officer aboard her. 267 (ST:TOS, Second Season) the USS Ezekiel was severely damaged in an encounter with Romulans along the neutral zone. This was not an uncommon occurrence in those times. Up until this time it is probable that the USS Ezekiel was more of a military ship than an explorer like her sister ship the Enterprise. There were great tensions with both the Romulans and the Klingons at this time, leading to near wars with both empires. The USS Ezekiel was on these front lines many times. In 2267 Horatio St. John-Smythe became the captain of the Ezekiel and began a tour of exploration. Between 2267 and 2273 The Ezekiel was instrumental in many first contacts and deep exploration missions (Jay's 1983 ST:RPG campaign). The Ezekiel was the first to contact a friendly race of insectoids who had formed a small Federation of their own, towards the galactic center. The Ezekiel explored many a strange spatial phenomenon. Her captain even traveled in time to undo tampering with the Federations' history. The Ezekiel was painted blue in 2267. This paint scheme was kept until Captain Spiak elected to discontinue the practice in 2283. Refit 2274 *'Brief description of ship:' "Enterprise" refit Constitution class. Campaign setting, Vehicle to get the Characters into trouble. *'Fleet role:' Heavy cruiser, patrol and exploration. *'Length:' 302m *'Distinguishing Marks (Odd paint job, repair scars etc.)' Between 2267 and 2283 The Ezekiel was painted a pale blue. This paint job was preserved over at least one major refit. *'Equipment Quirks and Problems:' A stock model Constitution class starship. *'Equipment Advantages:' The Ezekiel was equipped as a stock model Constitution class cruiser, an advanced and powerful starship of her day. *'Shuttles, number, any odd ones?' 2 type M Shuttles, 2 type 5a Shuttles, 1 2265 Klingon Shuttlecraft, The Civilian Shuttle. *'Primary Power:' The Ezekiel was powered by the most powerful and leveraged Matter/Antimatter reactors of the day. *'Secondary Power:' Standard generic Impulse power system *'Primary Weapons:' Photon Torpedoes, of the standard type of the day. *'Secondary Weapons:' Type VII phaser banks, *'Crew:' 450 History From 2274 to 2276 (about four years after ST:TMP) the USS Ezekiel underwent her final massive refit to the new technology baseline pioneered by the USS Enterprise. In 2277 After a shakedown cruise, the Ezekiel began Horatio St. John-Smythes' final five year mission. It was during this mission that the Ezekiel became the first ship to have one her crew board a Romulan Warbird and escape alive. It was also during this time that the Ezekiel discovered the remains of the Jupiter II, and carried news of her sad fate back to the Federation. During this time tensions with the Klingons and the Romulans were not lessening and the Ezekiel was required to test her mettle in combat from time to time. In 2283, Horatio St. John-Smythe stepped aside and Spiak of Vulcan became one of the few Vulcans to command a front line starship up to that time. During Spiaks' tenure as Captain, the USS Ezekiel became a much more sedate ship, often supporting complex science investigations and scouting probes. In keeping with the Vulcan way, the Ezekiel did not seek out first contact but quietly observed several candidate races before the decision to contact them was made. The information gathered by the Ezekiel proved invaluable to Federation Diplomats, and to the Federation wide base line of scientific data. Spiak's career was not all science and tameness. The Ezekiel was called upon regularly to combat terrorists, guerrillas, and to confront tensions between the powers. It is worth noting that Spiak approached all of these incidents from a Vulcan standpoint, and often worked peaceful solutions to what were thought to be military problems. By this time, the future of the Constitution class starship was changing. The USS Ezekiel started out as one of the flagships of the Federation. By 2284, the USS Excelsior was launched, putting an end to the dominance of the Constitution class starship. At the same time, the Miranda class starships were proving their worth as front line starships. While not as powerful as the Constitution class starships, the Miranda class was cheaper to build, and properly equipped could equal the Constitutions' sensors and science capabilities. The Miranda class was also much cheaper to operate. The final nail in the coffin of the Constitution class starship was the Constellation class starship. A new class with weapons and technology equal to the latest in the Federation and the promise of being adaptable for years to come. Even though the writing was on the wall for the Constitution class, they still were vital parts of Starfleet and the Federation. In 2288 (About two years after STIV:TVH) Lee Barr took command of the starship Ezekiel. A twenty year veteran of the ship she was familiar with the quirks and personality of the starship. Captain Barr and the Ezekiel patrolled the Klingon neutral zone and earned the respect of their Klingon adversaries, as the tension between the UFP and the Klingons began to grow. The Ezekiel also continued her career of generating data from all over known space as part of the Federation science baseline project. With the Khitomer accords of 2393 and the launch of the Excelsior class USS Enterprise, the twilight of the Ezekiel and the Constitution class had come. The Ezekiel was sent on many scouting missions into deep space, where it was felt that a newer ship should not be risked. During this time the Ezekiel again proved her worth, returning from mission after mission, often with new discoveries or word of a new race. In 2299, the Ezekiel received her last Captain, Amber St. John-Smythe, daughter of Horatio St. John-Smythe. This was one of the first times a parent had commanded a starship, to be followed in that role by their child. It is a measure of how long the Ezekiel had been in service. In 2299 the USS Ezekiel had been in service for 49 years. A few more critical missions awaited the USS Ezekiel, but she was then beginning to show her age. She was not as fast as some of the other ships available to Starfleet command. The Ezekiel more often than not was assigned to milk runs and scouting missions. The USS Ezekiel finished her career on April the twenty third, 2305. She was 54 years old. The USS Ezekiel was one of the last of the Constitution class starships in operation. Her decommissioning was the end of an era. The ceremony taking the Ezekiel out of service was attended by all four of her surviving former commanding officers. Enterprise D Scale *Science capacity: 200 -- Less lab or crew for science, sensors less advanced. *Crew Comfort 250 -- Half the crew, an eighth the volume. *Duration - 1000 -- smaller in every way but equipped for that size. *Medical facilities 600 -- Neither the space or the staff. *Tactical maneuvering 1500 -- Lighter and quicker. *Strategic Speed 600 -- Cruise WF 8, Flank WF 10, old scale, cruise 0.7 light years a day. *Defense 500 -- Good for her day. *Offense 500 -- Class 7 phasers again good for the day. *Versatility -- 600 She did the cruiser mission be did not have the space or crew. *Internal Security -- 800 Decent. Refit 2345 *'Brief description of ship:' "Enterprise" refit Constitution class with a very Guns & Butter super cannon in the top. A potential McGuffin or setting for a strange campaign. *'Fleet role:' "Shore" bombardment ship. *'Length:' 302m *'Distinguishing Marks (Odd paint job, repair scars etc.)' Heavy bombardment cannon on top. *'Equipment Quirks and Problems:' Her bombardment cannon were flaky and had to be managed carefully to avoid disrupting the ship's power systems. *'Equipment Advantages:' The Ezekiel was fitted with powerful bombastic cannons, huge phasers which packed a massive punch, when they worked. *'Shuttles, number, any odd ones?' 4 Type X shuttles, The Civilian shuttle was still there but was of dubious reliability, 1 Orion Shuttle. *'Primary Power:' A standardized Starfleet warp core of a type which has been adopted as replacement equipment on older ships (Mostly Miranda and Constellation Class vessels). *'Secondary Power:' Standard generic Impulse power system *'Primary Weapons:' SX-7 Heavy Phaser Cannon *'Secondary Weapons:' Type VII phaser banks. *'Crew:' 200+ History The Ezekiel being still functional was not scrapped, but was sent to the Starfleet Ready Reserves, where many Warships from the era of the Klingon Cold War were being sent. The ready reserve was not just one place but many major planets and bases had ready reserve fleets attached to them. There the ships were stored, their systems preserved carefully against age. Over time engineering students are trained by upgrading the systems of ships from the ready reserves. When a Starbase needs a temporary fire power or patrol increase they can activate a ready reserve ship. Although design limitations of the hull mean that these ships will never be as fast or perhaps as durable as their newer counterparts, they can still be useful if employed thoughtfully. The Ezekiel is one of only a small number of Constitution class ships allocated to this ready reserve fleet. Most other Constitution class ships were used up in service, lost, or destroyed. By and large the ready reserve fleet consists of frigates and perimeter action ships left over from the arms race of the 2280's and 2290's. In 2345, the Ezekiel was refit with an experimental weapons system and underwent field tests with inconclusive results. In 2350, the Cardassian conflict broke out. During the early stages of this war, While Starfleet struggled to build up strength to ward off the Cardassian invasion, The Ezekiel, like many ready reserve ships was activated and allocated to support roles like convoy escort and shore bombardment in support of allied troops. Although her crews were happy to have a Constitution class starship on their side, the disappointing performance of her SX-7 heavy phaser cannon limited her effectiveness. In 2355 with many new frigates and cruisers coming on line, the Ezekiel and many of her companions were returned to the Reserve. The Starship Ezekiel waits there until this very day. Enterprise D Scale *Science capacity: 200 -- Less lab or crew for science, sensors less advanced. *Crew Comfort 350 -- a quarter the crew, an eighth the volume. *Duration - 1000 -- smaller in every way but equipped for that size. *Medical facilities 600 -- Neither the space or the staff. *Tactical maneuvering 1500 -- Lighter and quicker. *Strategic Speed 600 -- Cruise WF 8, Flank WF 10, old scale, cruise 0.7 light years a day. *Defense 500 -- Good for her day. *Offense 600 -- Class 7 phasers plus that monster cannon, when it worked *Versatility -- 500 She did the cruiser mission be did not have the space or crew. *Internal Security -- 800 Decent. 'Service History' *2251 - 2276 In service as Constitution class starship, Upgraded to "Bonhomme Richard" Specs. (Mode 1) *2276 - 2305 In Service as Constitution class, Upgrade to "Enterprise" Specs. (Mode 2) *2305 - 2345 In Storage as part of Starfleet ready Reserve. Upgraded to class III standard equipment for ships of her age. *2345 Upgraded to bombardment cruiser with the addition of two ventrally mounted SX-7 Heavy Phaser cannons. (Mode 3) *2350 - 2355 Serves along Cardassian Border in fleet escort/shore bombardment role *2355 - present Returned to Starfleet Ready Reserves. Category:Ships Category:Starfleet Category:ST-OM